The Free State province has placed financial sustainability and accountability at the helm of priorities to reform local government.
Municipalities in the province have pledged to focus on improving good governance by embedding ethical leadership and a culture of performance management.
They have also committed to implementing structural reforms that will facilitate accountability.
The pledge emanates from the three-day local government summit being held in the Free State.
The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department MEC Saki Mokoena is confident that they will turn the tide of non-performance within municipalities.
Mokoena says, “So I’m quite happy with the participation, the quality of the debate, the presence the municipal leadership that was here has simply said to us through their inputs, ‘we are ready and committed to turn things around’ and we are going to work together with them.”
“We are going to support them, it’s not easy for municipalities at times, we come hard but we know the difficulties that are there, finally our people must pay for the services so that when we push municipalities to deliver services our people must also come to the party because there is no free services if you are unemployed register as an indigent if you are working pay for your services.”
Free State local government role players say they hope the summit will not just be another talk shop.
Maluti-a-Phofung Council Chief Whip, Moeketsi Lebesa says he hopes for tangible changes after the summit.
Lebesa says, “So I’m worried as to whether there will be a political will from the political leadership to implement the resolutions of this summit, let’s hope and pray that the decisions of this summit will not degenerate into another talk shop.”
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